I usually take
great pride in being able to analyze each film I watch, finding purpose and
meaning in even the most ambiguous endings. While there are certain themes that
were clear to me after watching The Red
Turtle, aspects of the narrative were indecipherable to me. What’s more, I
felt little desire to dissect the narrative. Despite having a number of
confounding fantastical sequences in an otherwise realistic tale of survival, I
was content to let the feelings from Michael Dudok De Wit’s images wash over me
like the waves that kept him confined to his deserted island. Although one
could speculate on deeper meanings and practical explanation, I found the
beauty of The Red Turtle to lie in
the emotions evoked by the atmosphere of the imagery, even when the film seems
makes little realistic sense.

Catfight is a film determined to follow
through on the promise of the title, though somehow manages to complicate a
simple premise with the uneven elements of social satire in the world beyond
the main characters engaged in battle. At the center of the story may be a
conflict between two former college friends that repeatedly results in
violence, but filmmaker Onur Tukel is never satisfied with focusing on these
characters between the fistfights. Instead, much of the movie becomes preoccupied
with the world they live in, including too many unnecessary characters and odd
elements which often make it unclear whether this is a satire of modern times
or a prediction of where we will be in the near future.

The title Marine
of The Marine franchise has remained
the same for the last three of the five movies, but even with a familiar
character returning, these films often feel like ordinary scripts that have
repurposed to become the next installment. There is rarely any connection in
the storyline beyond the returning main character with a military background,
this time even removing him from the job he is known for. I suppose titling the
film The Former Marine is not as
catchy, and it is actually somewhat of a relief that the latest entry has
simplified the narrative.